Saturday, December 21, 2013

Primerica
believes the ultimate key to financial success is knowledge– about how money
works, how to make responsible, well-informed decisions and how to get the best
value for the dollars you spend. As part of Primerica’s continuing commitment
to consumer education, over the next several months we will discuss common
sense financial concepts that can help people overcome the obstacles they face
and achieve their goals.

This
month we will focus on the forth principle: Eliminate debt.

Of
all the threats to your financial security, none is more dangerous than debt. In
every family’s quest to feel good financially, debt is the most common enemy. The
very fact that it is so common – who doesn’t have debt? - makes it one of the
biggest challenges to your financial well-being.

The
bad news about compound interest is that it always works. When you are building
a saving program it works in your favor. With debt it works against you. When
you pay just the minimum balance on your credit cards, interest charges are added
each month to the remaining principal. Your new balance is principal plus the interest… and that amount gets
compounded again and again. It is easy to see how small debts grow large with
compound interest.

Did
you know if you made a one-time $3,000 purchase with no new purchases and make
the minimum payments, it would take 10 years to pay off and you would end up
paying $2,002 in interest charges? Based on APR of 18 percent.

There
are two kinds of debt, revolving and fixed. Credit card debt is what is known
as “revolving” debt. The interest compounds daily instead of monthly which
means you can pay much more in interest. Because there is not a fixed amount
that you pay each month, your debt can go on forever. Additionally, your
interest rate could change at almost any time and there is little a consumer
can do beyond paying off the entire balance at once. Revolving debt can erode
your financial security quickly.

The
surest way to protect your self is to not get into debt in the first place. If
you do get into debt then you want to focus on paying it off as soon as
possible. Debt stacking is the quickest way to do this. By taking into account
the interest rate and amount of debt, debt stacking identifies an ideal order
for you to pay off your debts. You begin by making consistent payments on all
of your debts. As you pay off the first account you apply this payment the next
account and continue until you payoff that account. This gets the principal of
compound interest working for you.

So
let us say you have $2,720 in monthly debt payments. You continue to make this
payment on all of your debts until they are paid off. Most people when they pay
something off create another expense. This plan can eliminate 10 or more years
on your debt freedom date and save hundreds of thousands in interest.

There
are a variety of programs that can help you do this. As always we recommend you
consult with a professional to accelerate your debt freedom date!

In
the time you took to read this article at least one resident of Windham will
have had something stolen. We will talk about that next month when we explore
the five most common credit mistakes.

The
sights and the sounds of the season are all around, but no place more than at
Eight Corners Farm where the heady aroma of balsam hangs in the air and the
lights and decorations put customers in the mood for the holidays.

Owner
Rhonda Davis and her husband, Chris, have been preparing for the holidays since
October and it has been this way for 10 years. Eight Corners Farm, at the
corners of Albion and Windham Center Road, started out as a farm for 4-H sheep
that belonged to the Davis’ children. After they grew up, Rhonda turned her
hobby of floral design and decorating into a backyard business. Now 10 years
later, they are a growing, successful business with quality products to liven up
any party, event or holiday festivity.

“My
hobby grew into my career,” Rhonda said. With the converted sheep barn and four
greenhouses, Eight Corners Farm has grown to a year round business with
commercial growing accounts, decorating in the summer and at the holidays as
well as landscaping, hardscaping, fall and spring clean up and garden
maintenance. Chris manages the landscaping part of the business. Rhonda designs
bouquets and arrangements for funerals, special events and weddings. She was
named Maine State designer of the year and has taught adult education classes
locally.

“One
of the best designers in the State of Maine? That’s when they say Rhonda
Davis,” Chris said. Every order is a custom order and made to be one of a kind,
Rhonda said.

This
summer she travelled to Las Vegas where she rubbed elbows with some of the best
designers in the world. The theme of the floral design conference was passion.
“This is my passion,” she said, mentioning that fresh flowers are her
specialty. She also likes to bake and is not above “bribing” a customer’s
husband to wait while she whips up a holiday centerpiece.

Rhonda
also recycles vases and spring containers, she said. Many people bring in their
own containers to be filled. The greenery used by Eight Corners Farm at the
holidays comes from the land the Davis’ own in northern Maine.

Rhonda also volunteers and fosters for Doggies for Maine Lab Rescue.

The
farm also sells gifts, ornaments and consignment artwork.

Eight
Corners Farm still has boxwood trees, fresh centerpieces, candles, wreaths and
kissing balls for sale at reasonable prices. Rhonda can also suggest items for
hostess gifts. The farm will be closed from right after Christmas until March,
when they will begin planting in the greenhouses. To contact the farm, call
Rhonda at 615-9968 or Chris at 615-9977 or email eightcornersfarm@msn.com.

If a customer can dream it and it’s made out of aluminum
or steel, Sebago Metal Fabrication can build it. Since 2001, the company has
been creating aluminum docks, stairs and gangways for Sebago Docks. Now, under
the direction of production manager Frank Walker, they are looking for
customers to challenge their welding capabilities.

“We can do most anything,” said Walker, who is the
contact person for Sebago Metal Fabrication, although the company is owned by
Jim Wynn. “Most of what Sebago Metal Fabrication does is custom work.” They
have built a 55-foot stairway and a permanent dock on Sebago Lake.

“We specialize in extruded aluminum fabrication,” said
Wynn. Aluminum is lighter, more durable, doesn’t rust, lasts longer and doesn’t
need to be painted, he said. Extruded fabrication means that the aluminum is
like playdough and is squeezed through a mold to create a unique shape. Each
shape is copywrited to the person who created it. Sebago Metal Fabrication
holds many unique molds, Wynn said.

“It really is green technology,” Walker said. Being
light, it is used in dock frames, handicapped ramps, picnic tables and more.
The aluminum is also used to create the sides for portable ice arenas like the
one set up at Fenway Park each year.

Walker also has created wagons and sleighs for the equine
world, he said. He also creates roll around carts for companies to move product
around.

Welding aluminum is a specialty trade, Walker said. “It’s
a whole different world and different machines,” he said.

Sebago Metal Fab also works with steel to create railings,
entryways, unique art pieces and welding repairs to plows, boats and trailers. The
company also create fire escapes.

The company is looking for jobs to complete from a $50
repair job to a $20,000 gangway project, they want to show customers what they
can do. They have a CAD design machine on site to help make a vision into a
model to build by. “It’s ideal to have an idea and then get a plan drawn up,”
said Walker.

In the winter there are about five employees, but during
dock season the number rises to 15 or so.

When asked about the difference in price between aluminum
and steel, the answer was that in the end aluminum costs less after cleaning,
priming, painting and treating the steel.

“Nothing too big, nothing too small, we’ll do it all,”
said Wynn. “We’re the best kept secret in Naples, Maine.” Walker will travel
between Acton and Augusta to finish work, although he prefers to do most of the
work in the Naples shop. Some of the products Sebago Metal Fab makes it sells
through Craigslist ads.

Monday, December 9, 2013

Last February Gray Family Vision Center opened an office
in Windham, at 8 Crimson Drive off Route 302. The small office has all of the
skill and technology of a larger facility, under the co-ownership and direction
of Dr. David Guiseley, OD and Dr. Jonathan Cook, OD.

“Our demographics said we had a high percentage of
patients coming from the Route 302 corridor. We opened a satellite office to
serve their needs,” said Cook between patients.

Both optometrists work in both the main office in Gray,
which opened in 1989, and the satellite office in Windham four days a week
alternating between morning and afternoons. A technician travels with them to
do screenings and pre-exam eye tests. Margaret Frazier is the optician on site,
fitting glasses and contacts for patients. She is also in charge of reception
at the Windham office. Officer manager Amy Harmon, CPOT, oversees the whole
operation.

“We see everyone from birth to 100, or really there is no
age limit to coming here,” she said.

One of the unique services Gray Family Vision Center
offers is infancy exams free for children from ages birth to one year through
the AOA. “This helps us to provide lifelong eye care,” said Harmon. A child or
an adult, who is uncommunicative, can have their eyes checked by using only
objective refraction tests instead of subjective tests.

When seeing babies, the doctors can catch a potential
issue before the school calls in third grade saying that a child isn’t seeing
clearly. Not seeing well can delay a child in speech and reading. “It makes
such a big difference in the kids who don’t know it’s unusual because it’s
normal for these kids,” said Harmon.

Eye exams are routinely given every two years, but could
be more often depending on the specific condition, said Harmon. There are tests
given by the technician before the doctor does the comprehensive exam looking at
overall eye health. After that he does the refraction portion of the exam,
which is where he checks to see if glasses are appropriate and what strength
they should be.

“They go together,” said Harmon.

Eye exams have changed over the years, Cook said. “Technology
has really developed to a degree to where we can work in a more accurate way. Refraction
is so much more accurate. Before it was one-quarter of a diopter, now it’s
one-one hundredths of a diopter. Imaging has also changed,” Cook said.

“Imaging has allowed us to track changes better and
doesn’t rely on the doctor’s knowledge. We have it in black and white,” said
Harmon.

They have a full range of glasses and contacts to fit
every budget, including Coach and RayBans.

As the practice grows, the doctors hope to bring on more
optometrists, said Harmon. At this point, Cook estimates that they see 4,500
patients in a year’s time, and they accept most insurances.

To reach Gray Family Vision Center in Windham or Gray to
schedule an appointment, visit them online at www.grayfamilyvision.com or call
894-2174.

Dave
Barracks has been around computers since before the invention of what people
think of computers today. He didn’t open PC Lighthouse until September 2003,
which he operates out of his house at 65 Whites Bridge Road.

“I’ve
done it all my life,” Barracks said. “I did it in the military for 20 years
back when it was called data processing in the Army Signal Corps.” He was
stationed in France and remembers sending messages on the Trans Atlantic Cable
on an IBM punch card. That was before satellite service.

“I’ve
seen it really from its basic inception,” Barracks said.

He
worked for a few private companies before he decided to retire and open his own
computer repair shop. He has done everything from get rid of viruses to manufacture
computer boards in Augusta.

Barracks
has a large customer base spread over a radius of one hour from Windham. He
travels to see customers and also allows drop offs at his home.

“If
it’s related to a computer I can do all levels of repairs,” Barracks said. He
is certified for all types of repairs on everything from PCs to Macs to
tablets. “If it’s broke, I can fix it,” he said. “It doesn’t mean it should be
fixed.” His certifications range from A+ certification, network certified, MS
Office user certified. He also receives referrals from Staples, he said.

In
2003 when he first started, he fixed 99 percent desktop computers and one
percent laptops, now that is completely reversed, he said. “It’s getting harder
and harder to find desktops,” Barracks said. He is waiting for his new Surface
tablet to arrive, which will replace his desktop.

With
PCs he fixes viruses, malware mostly. With Apple products it’s broken glass on
the screens or hard drive failures, Barracks said. In that case it’s mostly the
customer caused problems, he added.

“Computers
are better. The reliability is a heck of a lot better than it used to be,”
Barracks said. A typical home computer will last roughly five to seven years,
he said.

“I
just wonder what’s going to happen next,” he said.

He
does not do sales, which he purposely said he never wanted to do. He does not
stock parts and he doesn’t mark up the price on parts. “I make my money on the
labor part,” he said. His specialty is hardware failures or broken parts.

He
is also very comfortable with the software side. He does install software to
computers. Barracks is also “senior” friendly. Being a senior himself, he
understands the needs of his generation.

His
prices range from $50 per hour, not to exceed $175 or $75 per hour if he comes
to the client’s home. A typical repair costs $125, he said. He accepts all
credit cards, Paypal, cash and checks. He is a member of the local better
business bureau and the Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce.